Maeil Stock League: Monday Team Leads as Korea Kolmar, TLB, and SK E&T Draw Attention

Each team's experts submit portfolios on Monday and Tuesday, and individual returns are calculated by summing each stock's highest-price return on the Korea Exchange. Team returns are the average of each team's experts' returns, which is designed to drive competition.

In the league's current interim standings, the Monday team holds first place and is pulling away. Monday team expert Park Cheol-soon posted a high 39% return, lifting the team's overall average return by about 1 percentage point. Spurred by this, the Tuesday team in second place has averaged returns in the 40% range, closely chasing the Monday team and creating a tight competitive picture.

TFE gained another 3 percentage points to a 34.47% return, greatly helping Park hold the top spot. This is seen as an example of strong upward momentum in individual stocks even amid the league's fierce competition.

Korea Kolmar has drawn market attention by posting record operating profit. Notably, the result was not limited to sunscreen: the skincare segment now accounts for over 40% of sales, demonstrating the expandability of its overall business portfolio and earning positive assessments. This reduces reliance on specific product lines and raises expectations for stable growth through a diversified business model.

Analysts noted that such designations can weigh on supply and demand, making it hard to sustain the rapid gains of recent weeks. Investors are therefore advised to closely watch whether these stocks hold current price levels before making decisions.

The KOSDAQ index could fall to around 780 points, and the materials, parts, and equipment (so-called socal) sector to which Wonik IPS belongs could also be affected. However, analysts argue that strong gains in the socal sector are likely after such a correction, making a long-term approach effective.

PB Park Yong-jin named TLB as a promising stock, explaining that despite broad burdens on the KOSDAQ market, TLB is holding up steadily. The market is focusing on rising CPU demand driven by GPU growth, and TLB's order backlog has surged from 53.9 billion won to 141.8 billion won, demonstrating its growth potential. This is a factor brightening TLB's earnings outlook alongside expectations for a semiconductor industry recovery.

This appears to be an important benchmark for limiting investment losses and managing risk.

PB Hwang Dae-geun stressed that SK E&T is promising because it has a decoupling trait, moving counter to the market index. It is rated as a stock that can help defend portfolio returns when the market broadly weakens or when macroeconomic conditions deteriorate, such as rising international oil prices or the Middle East war. This trait can be an attractive factor for investors seeking stable returns amid uncertain market conditions.

Amid a market environment of persistent power shortages and growing renewable PPA (power purchase agreement) contracts to meet RE100 goals, SK E&T's renewable energy business is expected to stand out further. This is seen as an important factor securing long-term growth drivers.

These criteria and strategy provide concrete guidelines that investors can reference when approaching SK E&T.

This reflects SK E&T's growing investor interest alongside the growth of the renewable energy market, supporting the shared view among experts that upward price momentum remains intact.